This invention generally relates to extrusions used for protective and decorative trim strips and, more particularly, to molded end caps for finishing the terminal ends of such extrusions.
Protective and decorative trim strips are commonly used for enhancing the external appearance of automotive bodies, furniture and other types of articles, as well as protecting the associated article from accidental scratch producing contact. Conventionally, such trim strips are typically formed in a continuous fashion by an extrusion process employing a suitable extrudable material, such as an extrudable plastic. The continuous strip is thence severed into desired lengths to produce the desired individual trim strips.
Molded end caps have been used in the past for covering the ends of decorative trim strips produced from extrusions such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,451,709, issued on June 24, 1969 and 3,843,475, issued on Oct. 22, 1974.
When trim strips, such as those used on the exterior of automotive bodies, are extruded from plastic materials, the cross-sectional tolerance of such plastic material tends to vary in size and the tolerance will change in accordance with the size of the extrusion. This change in cross-sectional tolerance of the plastic material produces a problem in that when a molded end cap is affixed to the end of such an extrusion, the variation in tolerance makes it appear that the end cap is either too large or too small for the extrusion.